What Are the Pros & Cons of Smoking?

Loss of Body Weight

Smoking especially tobacco can curb your appetite and desire to eat in a short time. It can help those who are overweight lose weight or those who are suffering from over-eating disorders.

Help You Relax

One of the main reasons that people keep smoking is that it helps them feel relaxed especially in stressful periods. Though people who are in stress can choose other ways to relax themselves, smoking is actually the one that can relive stress in a short term.

Stimulate Your Brain

Furthermore, smoking can stimulate your brain. Substances included in cigarettes, such as nicotine, can stimulate the release of dopamine which is a chemical substance in brain that brings about euphoric bouts of pleasure. In most cases, smokers relieve stress through smoking which in turn increases their level of happiness and pleasure while your brain is still under the effect of that chemical substance.

Lower Risks and Impacts of Mental Illness

Another possible pro of smoking is that it lowers the risk of mental illness. Some evidences show that a lot of patients use tobacco as a way of self-medicate of schizophrenia. It is said that smoking reduces the frequency of episodes of this disease and its impacts. Besides, the risk of mental illnesses, such as, dementia and Alzheimers can be indirectly caused by smoking.

Lowers Risks of Neurological Disease

Some researches show that there is a lower risk in smokers to have neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s. What’s more, long term smokers are more likely to be immune to this disease than short term or non-smokers.

Cause Respiratory Diseases and Disorders

It is estimated that cigarettes contain about 600 ingredients which can release a large amount of additional chemicals when reacted with fire. Most of these chemicals are carcinogens that can lead to serious damages to your body organs, such as, lungs and esophagus. These serious damages can cause many health problems, such as, cancer and emphysema.

Lead to Cardiovascular Diseases

Smoking can lead to cardiovascular diseases, because it increases your blood pressure. Smoking can also increase the risk of a stroke, as it can cause blood clots which can move into your brain. The damages of your lung by smoking may affect your ability to work out. One of the major means of having a healthy body is through daily exercise through running, jogging and even stretching. Lack of exercises may increase the risk of weight gain and high cholesterol level, which causes heart attacks.

Increase Economic Burden

How can you ignore this point when talking about the pros and cons of smoking? The smokers who are addictive usually spend even their last coin to buy the cigarette. Even if a smoker only smokes a single pack a day, the habit for a long time could cost a lot of money. Spend on tobacco and other health or insurance bills associated with smoking can lead to poor living conditions even death.

Cause Death

Cancer is one of the top killer diseases globally. Smoking leads to contracting of cancer of the mouth, the bladder, esophagus, and liver. Also, it causes the stomach, trachea, oropharynx and the kidney cancers. Death related with cancer caused by smoking is in a large amount.

Severe Headache

Smoking and inhaling secondhand smoke trigger a headache. The Nicotine in tobacco is vasoactive hence changing the blood vessels in the brain and resulting in a severe headache.

Other Obvious Cons of Smoking

• Decreased acceptance by non-smoking peers

• The bad odor of smoke on body and clothing

• Nausea from smoking too much.

• Yellow skin, black lips, yellow teeth and fingernails.

• Dry mouth and constant feelings of thirst.